The difference between average and good writing is time.

If you put in the time to create drafts, edit your work, and then re-write, you’ll typically create something cogent, smart, and comprehensible.

Email writing requires a blend of casual tone with brevity and a touch of cleverness (if you carry a license for such a thing):

1. Tone: Don’t write as if you’re their best friend, yet don’t write like an attorney, either. And, pick your spots to go for humor…what can you lose? They’re probably not reading it anyway. (Ahhh, but they are, and will read if you connect on the humor thing.)

2. Brevity: Less is more! You’re not paid by the word, so don’t write like it.

3. Cleverness: In limited doses, it goes a long way. The key is to figure out how much and when. This is when a friend’s eye helps you decide.

Proposal writing borrows some of the same themes as what’s needed for effective email writing, mostly the brevity angle. And value…yeah…VALUE is important when creating proposals. The reader shouldn’t have to work hard to understand the benefits they’re going to receive when doing a deal with you.